Every profession or industry has its prescription
of operation – documented.
However, when one does not follow proper procedure
to undertake a project, as in the case of Davido and the Nigerian Film and
Video Censors Board, NFVCB, there is breach of agreement or a breach of order.
Recently, the news about Davido being interrogated
by the National Drug Law and Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, over his controversial
video with American rapper, Meek Mill, went viral in the public.
According to the information being circulated,
Davido was seen promoting drug trafficking in the new video, titled Fans mi.
Also, in an interview with the Punch Newspaper, the
Acting Head, Corporate Affairs of the Nigerian Film and Video Censors Board,
Mike Ekunno, has said that NFVCB did not approve the video before it was
released.
Davido has claimed the accusation to be false
Davido’s manager, Kamal Ajiboye has said, “People
have been talking about the matter on social media. Maybe they need to take
time to watch the video again and see for themselves what it is all about. I
don’t know why anybody would want to make up a story about Davido getting
involved with hard drug”.
Defending the content of the video, Ajiboye said
yam flour (and not narcotic) was used in the video. “The yam flour was well
projected in the video. It was finally prepared as a meal of pounded yam to be
eaten with vegetable soup in one of the scenes in the same video,” he said.
However, the Director of Public Affairs of the
NDLEA, Mr. Mitchell Ofoyeju, was quoted as saying that the agency had set up a
panel to investigate the making of the video, which he alleged had clearly
promoted drug trafficking.
Ofoyeju described the video as immoral. “There is
no moral lesson in it and he was just advertising drug trafficking.
“In the video, he exchanged a briefcase that
supposedly contained narcotics for American dollars. He was displaying
affluence in the video. If the plot had climaxed in an arrest and possible
detention, we would have congratulated him on partnering with us. But the way
he portrayed drug trafficking in the video was a means to an end, which the end
is a life of affluence which we disagree with.”
Perhaps Davido and the member of his team had
presented the video content to the Nigerian Film and Video Censors Board –
there would not be so much ado, as it is right now, about the video. This also
places a question mark on what Davido’s manager said.
If yam flour had been used, truly,
the content should have been presented for censorship just to clarify doubts,
but this might be a lesson for everyone (both in the entertainment industry and
in other industries).
“In the video, he exchanged a briefcase that
supposedly contained narcotics for American dollars. He was displaying
affluence in the video. If the plot had climaxed in an arrest and possible
detention, we would have congratulated him on partnering with us. But the way
he portrayed drug trafficking in the video was a means to an end, which the end
is a life of affluence which we disagree with.”